I am...

While most teachers point to the truth saying "that is true or that is truth", Jesus Christ pointed to himself saying, "I AM the truth."

Listen to these statements he makes during his teaching in the gospel of John:

"I AM the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."

"I AM the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

"I AM the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture."

"I AM the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

"I AM the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

"Truly, Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."

what's wrong today?

James Montgomery Boice, in his book "Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace?", identifies what's wrong with so many churches today and what the solution is. He identifies:

"six major cultural trends: secularism, humanism, relativism, materialism, pragmatism, and anti-intellectualism or 'mindlessness.' Secularism is the view that the universe is all there is; God and eternity are exluded. Humanism is the belief that -- in the words of the ancient pagan philosophers -- "Man is the measure of all things." This inevitably leads to worship of self. Relativism teaches that because there is no God, there are no absolutes; truth is relative. Materialism is closely related to secularism. If nothing exists except the here-and-now, then the meaning of life can be found only in personal possessions. Pragmatism measures truth by its practical utility. What is right and true is whatever works. Mindlessness is the overall "dumbing down" of popular culture, the shrinking of the American mind, which television has done a great deal to accelerate."

He goes on to say:

"These are some of the prevailing trends in American culture at the dawn of millenium. If the church has become worldly, then we would expect to find these same attitudes in evangelical churches. And of course that is exactly what we do find.

So, what's the solution. Well, in the words of B.B. Warfield, "The world should realize with increased clearness that Evangelicalism stands or falls with Calvinism." By this he means that we need to understand reformed theology, and our understanding it guards us from these "isms" that are in our society. Let us remember and hold onto the glorious truth of the gospel: of human depravity, God's justice and wrath towards sin, that minkind is saved by the atoning work of Jesus Christ, and that salvation is by grace alone thru faith alone in Christ alone.

summer vfc...

This week is our first summer VFC! Friday night, 7 p.m. in the VFC Room. Worship, updates, and I'll be speaking on evangelism. Saturday, we are going to Six Flags over Georgia and then Sunday, we'll have lunch in the VFC Room.

Speaking of evangelism, if you haven't seen "The Way of the Master" TV show, you should check it out. You can watch several episodes for free by clicking HERE.

campus ministry, part 2...

Dr. Russell Moore, who I referenced in the last post, hosted "The Al Mohler Radio Program" yesterday. His topic is the same as the article, "College Ministry In A Hookup Culture".

You can listen to the program by clicking HERE.

campus ministry...

Russell Moore, a professor at Southern Seminary, wrote an article this week about the whole Duke Lacrosse team and the state of college life. It was very sad and revealing at the same time. He talked about the "hook-up" culture on campuses. The problem at the root is the same problem in all of us = human depravity. And the solution is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The question is: who will take the gospel to the campuses?

At least for UT, one answer is Volunteers for Christ.

Here is what Dr. Moore says about campus ministries:

Campus ministries are vitally important, perhaps never more important than now. Collegiate Christian groups are able to see the ever-changing terrain of campus life, and to reach students with the gospel in ways that are difficult or impossible for others. The problem for many campus ministries, however, is that they are by design parachurch, cut off by necessity or by choice from the context of local churches. Thankfully, there are campus ministries willing to buck the campus culture, and to do so by engaging fathers and pastors. But there aren't enough of them out there...we need campus ministries that can preach the gospel and build one on one relationships with students who are experiencing a foretaste of hell, and thinking it is paradise. But we also need some campus ministers who are willing to call Christian fathers and Christian pastors back home to call them to the fraternity house steps, to pick up a prodigal son or daughter and go home.

I'm so thankful for Cornerstone Church of Knoxville and that VFC is connected to a local church. I do not think we would be effective at reaching the campus with the gospel apart from the local church.

You can read all of Dr. Moore's article by clicking HERE.

the sunrise...

This morning, I was reading Luke 1. I have read this several times, but as it often happens when I'm reading something again, I noticed a portion of the scripture that I haven't noticed before. This is Zechariah prophesying over his son John the Baptist when he was born. At the end of the prophecy, he says:

"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God,"

Now catch this part... "whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

What a poetic and beautiful desciption of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for us. He is "the sunrise from on high" who has come to this dark earth to give "light" to me who was sitting "in darkness". Without Christ, there would be no light, there would be no hope, only endless darkness of sin and death.

Do you see the sunrise? Do you have hope and light or are you still in the darkness?

I was reminded this morning of where I would be without the sunrise of Jesus Christ. My mind and my heart would still be darkened and enslaved to my sinful passions and desires. Praise God that the Son came and has shone light in my heart!

I'm thankful today for his tender mercy, for the forgiveness of my sins, and that the sun came up again!

mr. freeze...

I'm not sure why, but I found this 30-second video from "Batman and Robin" to be hilarious. Maybe it's the impressive acting skills of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Maybe it's because he says "ice", "cold", and "freeze" 40 times in half-a-minute.

You tell me. Check out the video by clicking here.

mature masculinity....

At the girl talk blog, Carolyn Mahaney has been doing posts on how CJ and her are teaching their son, age 13, to be a man.

I thought this post was very insightful and useful far beyond a 13 year old. Men, take note of these posts and begin to live them, for as Carolyn notes, this will serve your wife and your future employer.

Here is a link to the post and the rest in it's entirety:

I enjoy cleaning and putting things in order. (I know, there's something wrong with me!) Chad, on the other hand, strongly dislikes these tasks. (Did I mention that my son is 13?) Now given our differing preferences, I would much rather be the one to clean up after Chad and maintain the order of his bedroom and bathroom. Chad would prefer that too. But all I have to do is think about Chad’s future wife and future employers--what his messy habits would mean for them (and what they would think of me!)--and I make him clean his room.

Actually, it’s not only Chad’s future relationships that motivate me to insist that Chad “keep his domain in order.” As Randy Stinson put it in his “Show Yourself a Man” article, “a life that is characterized by disorder is evidence of passivity.” Chad’s domain “should bear the mark of [his] masculinity as [he] subdues it and keeps it in order.”

Because I want Chad to honor his future wife and serve his future employers; because I want Chad to resist passivity and cultivate masculinity:

* I have Chad clean his room and bathroom at the start of each day.
* I make Chad hang up his towel on the rack, return clean clothing back to drawers or hangers and put dirty clothing into the hamper. (I recently discovered that everything--dirty and clean--was being put into the hamper, thus the need for specificity.)
* I require Chad to stop whatever he is doing to put something back in its proper place, if he got it out, but neglected to put it back.
* I enforce the “no trash rule”--if something is consumed out of a disposable wrapper or container, the wrapper or container must be put into the trashcan!

Lest my rules seem petty to a certain young man, I Corinthians 14:33 backs me up: For God is not a God of disorder. (NIV) Above all, I want Chad to honor God by reflecting His character. Thus, I will persevere in challenging my son to keep his domain in order.

The Randy Stinson article can be found here.

NA messages...

The Sovereign Grace store now has all the main sesssions online for a ridiculously low price of $7. That's like the same price as a value meal at Chik-fil-A if you add coleslaw, or the same price as a drink at Starbucks when you get two extra shots of espresso and 4 flavored syrups in it. That's cheap!

Here is the link: NA messages.

Here is their pitch:

We’re offering these messages for insanely reduced prices for two reasons: 1) We believe that people need these messages. Not because they contain anything new, but because they are full of unchanging truth. 2) We know many of you are impoverished college students and we don’t want you to miss out. For the price of a couple skipped lattes, you can get all the teaching from this year’s Na.

For a recap of the conference and the messages you can go to the New Attitude blog.

If you look closely at the pictures under "The Neighborhood" you may just see VFC's own Hannah Poschel looking at some "regenerated" artwork.